The Interview
I was invited for an interview on Conversations With Jennylyn to talk about Veganism. During the interview, I explain what it means to be a vegan and why I think we should all go vegan and how that will eliminate animal cruelty, improve your health and make the earth a better place. Check out Conversations With Jennylyn
Facts and Sources
Around 50% of the UK beef comes from dairy cows
Calves would naturally feed from their mothers for around 9 months to a year, but dairy calves are taken away from their mothers normally within 24 – 72 hours of birth, in order for the farmer to ensure as much milk as possible can be acquired from the mother.
https://www.whitelies.org.uk/sites/default/files/dairy_report.pdf – pg. 9
https://www.ciwf.org.uk/media/5235185/the-life-of-dairy-cows.pdf – pg. 1
Separation of mother and child is an incredibly traumatic experience – and both will cry out for days.
https://www.viva.org.uk/blog/do-farmed-animals-weep
Male calves are of no use to the dairy industry and generally less suitable for beef production. This means that every year around 90,000 male dairy calves are shot soon after birth and discarded as a by-product.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2152402/Viewers-outrage-harrowing-scenes-day-old-calves-shot.html
Male calves that are not shot will instead be raised for veal either in the UK or in Europe, meaning that the calves have to endure, long, traumatic journeys as they’re either exported out of the country to their deaths or to slaughterhouses here in the UK.
https://www.whitelies.org.uk/animal-welfare/now-veal-crates-are-banned-does-veal-come-happy-calves-who-had-good-lifel
Dairy cows have been modified to produce up to 10 times more milk than they would naturally.
https://www.ciwf.org.uk/media/5235185/the-life-of-dairy-cows.pdf
Impregnating dairy cows is done through artificial insemination, a process in which semen is first obtained from a bull before being injected inside the uterus of the female dairy cow. The farmer does this by inserting his arm inside the cow’s anus and holding the cervix in place before sliding a needle through the cervix and injecting the semen inside of her.
https://www.whitelies.org.uk/sites/default/files/dairy_report.pdf – pg. 13
Dairy cows are sent to slaughter after around 4 – 6 years, or when they are too weak to continue producing milk. Their natural lifespan is around 25 years.
https://www.ciwf.org.uk/media/5235185/the-life-of-dairy-cows.pdf
90% of chicken production in the UK is in intensive windowless sheds which house 20 – 50,000 chickens each.
https://www.ciwf.org.uk/media/5235303/Statistics-Broiler-chickens.pdf – pg. 10
https://www.vegsoc.org/broilers
Fish populations are in decline to near extinction.
https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms1013
http://isc.fra.go.jp/pdf/ISC16/Plenary_report/ISC16_Final_Report.pdf
Piglets who survive the first few days of their life are mutilated without pain relief, their tails and teeth cut to reduce cannibalism, and pieces cut from their ears, or tags punched in as a means of identification.
Australian Pork, Industry Focus
http://australianpork.com.au/industry-focus/animal-welfare/husbandry/
Cutler, R, and Holyoake, P (2007). The Structure and Dynamics of the Pig Meat Industry, prepared for Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry
www.agriculture.gov.au/SiteCollectionDocuments/animal-plant/animal-health/livestock-movement/pig-movement-ead.pdf
Piglets are taken from their mothers at 3-5 weeks of age. Most are destined for slaughter around 5 months later.
Cutler, R, and Holyoake, P (2007). The Structure and Dynamics of the Pig Meat Industry, prepared for Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry
www.agriculture.gov.au/SiteCollectionDocuments/animal-plant/animal-health/livestock-movement/pig-movement-ead.pdf
When the pigs reach slaughter age at around 6 months, they are transported in cramped and overcrowded trucks with no water or food – regardless of the weather.
https://www.ciwf.org.uk/media/5235118/The-life-of-Pigs.pdf
We are currently growing enough food to feed 10 billion people.
Holt-Giménez, Eric. “We Already Grow Enough Food for 10 Billion People…and Still Can’t End Hunger”. Common Dreams: Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community. May 2012
“U.S. could feed 800 million people with grain that livestock eat, Cornell ecologist advises animal scientists”. Cornell Chronicle. August, 1997
Cassidy, Emily S, et al. “Redefining agricultural yields: form tonnes to people nourished per acre”. Environmental Research Letters 8 (2013) 034015 (8pp). August 2013
Worldwide, at least 50% of grain is fed to livestock.
“Executive Summary: Feed Supply”. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (New)
“Meat and Animal Feed”. Global Agriculture. Agriculture at a Crossroads. Findings and recommendations for future farming. (New)
Shah, Anup. “Beef: Diverting resources to environmentally destructive uses”. Global Issues. August 2010
“Did you know? U.S. and Wisconsin soybean facts”. Wisconsin Soybean Marketing Board
82% of starving children live in countries where food is fed to animals, and the animals are eaten by western countries.
Oppenlander, Dr. Richard. “The World Hunger-Food Choice Connection: A Summary”. Comfortably Unaware Blog. August 2012
“Improving Child Nutrition: The achievable imperative for global progress”. UNICEF. April 2013
“Livestock production index”. The World Bank
“Global livestock production systems”. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Rome 2011
People who don’t eat meat — vegetarians — generally eat fewer calories and less fat, weigh less and have a lower risk of heart disease than nonvegetarians do. Even reducing meat intake has a protective effect.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/meatless-meals/art-20048193
A team of researchers at Loma Linda University in the United States has shown vegetarian men live for an average of 10 years longer than non-vegetarian men — 83 years compared to 73 years. For women, being vegetarian added an extra 6 years to their lives, helping them reach 85 years on average.
https://www.sanitarium.com.au/health-nutrition/vegetarian-eating/eating-a-vegetarian-diet-can-help-you-live-longer
For every 1 pound of fish caught, up to 5 pounds of unintended marine species are caught and discarded as by-kill.
“Discard and bycatch in Shrimp trawl fisheries”. FAO: Fisheries and Aquaculture Department
Largest mass extinction in 65 million years.
Eldredge, Niles. “The Sixth Extinction”. ActionBioscince. June 2001
“Mass extinction of species has begun”. Phys.org. February 23, 2006
Ceballos, Gerardo, et al. “Accelerated modern human-induced species loss: Entering the sixth mass extinction”. Science Advances. 19 June 2015. Vol. 1, no. 5
Up to 85% of the world’s oxygen comes from phytoplankton
https://www.oceanoculus.com/news-from-the-sea/2014/02/12/what-the-oceans-do-for-us-one-phytoplanktons-waste
80% of antibiotics sold in the US are for livestock.
Loglisci, Ralph. “New FDA Number’s Reveal Food Animals Consume Lion’s Share of Antibiotics”. Center for a livable future. December 2010
“2009 Summary Report on Antimicrobials Sold or Distributed for Use in Food-Producing Animals”. FDA: Departent of Health and Human Services. September, 2014
Zuraw, Lydia. “2015 in Review: Animal Antibiotics”. Food Safety News. December 2015 (New)
Flanders, Timothy F, RN, CNP, PHD, et al. “A Review of Antibiotic Use in Food Animals: Perspective, Policy, and Potential”. Public Health Reports 2012 Jan-Feb; 127 (1): 4-22 (New)
